That fabric guilt is real. You see gorgeous bundles, buy them with the best intentions, and then they sit in your stash while you scroll Pinterest looking for the perfect pattern. Meanwhile, the pile grows and the finishing rate stays very low, but the beautiful collections keeps coming out and you simply love the idea of working with them!

Well, today, I am sharing you one way that I’ll be trying to stick to this year and possibly ...

Audrey awoke from her deep sleep with a level of activity never before witnessed. Later tonight or early tomorrow morning the fermentation process for sweet dough begins. I’m making a double batch to share. As I started this the delightful memories of checking a book on how to make a loaf of bread out of… Continue reading whew – it’s April

While visiting my parents in rural Colorado, my mother decided to go through her cedar chest.

Among other treasures, I saw for the first time, her baby quilt, made for her by her Grandmother.

This is the same woman responsible for the blocks in the BUTTERFLY QUILT.

While the quilt shows its age, the workmanship still shines through.

Pull.

Cut.

Piece.

I love the start of a new project!

With a blizzard ongoing here in Wisconsin, and a Kona Storm in Hawaii, it’s a good time to focus on color for a bit.

On many (most) of the patterns I produce, both custom and for the internet, I suggest colorways that folks can purchase from a single manufacturer. Exceptions are when colors need to be very close to the same hue and value. An ombre fabric can often provide the subtle shadings (for example, in a wedding gown) to give the suggestion of curves and shadows. In rare cases, you can have fabric custom dyed. In the case ...

This week I completed my final blocks for the  2026 Sew Along: Scrappy Sampler.

Well, I completed the block count for the middle size option. The friendship star block just didn’t appeal to me, so I found another option. Using THIS TUTORIAL, I make a 12″ bear paw variation. There wasn’t enough of any of the solid pink fabrics to make the center squares for the paw, so I used two different fabrics and created HST as an option.

Sashing and inner borders next. There is a lot to them, so it might be two weeks before I ...

I had such a busy week that I actually forgot that I had a long weekend. At first I wondered what I was going to do with it. Perhaps I should’ve planned to go away. I had two intense days of long arm quilting mastery teaching which went very well. I also gave a talk to the local Quilt group and everybody stayed awake so that’s always a good sign. It was great to see some of my quilts again which just live in a suitcase. I have been driving around with them all week because I can ...

Procrasti-blogging: writing a blog post when there are ten other things in need of doing. The opportunity to write this afternoon is too good. I am going to figure out where I am in piecing several blocks with this scrumptious Cherrywood Fabric. It is quite gorgeous, isn’t it. There are at least 9 blocks here… Continue reading Procrasti-blogging

This week I completed blocks 13 and 14 of the  2026 Sew Along: Scrappy Sampler.

I appreciate more and more Jessica’s videos and the two different printable patterns. You can find blocks 13 and 14 HERE. The piecing for Block 13 was new to me, but with no hurrying and better pressing techniques, I am happy with the results.

Only one more week of blocks, then on to borders. I am looking forward to it.

Looking for a way to use up surplus Half Square Triangles (HST)? This might be just the thing you are looking for. Gather up all the HST you have laying around, pick a size, add some low volume scraps, and, before you know it, you have a beautiful quilt to share.

I built my quilt without sashing, and the quilt sizes below assume that. You will likely come up with variations, and I would love to see them all.

NOTE: The quilt above is a 2-1/2″ HST variation using 36 blocks and finishing at 72″x72″.

WordPress recently notified me that I’ve been blogging on this site for 18 years. First of all, where did that time go? And secondly, there is a need to post with greater frequency. So here I am today blogging away with my favorite movie in the background. Tidying up my studio from four weeks of… Continue reading Well, where did that 18 years go?

In spite of life events, I have managed to stay caught up with the  2026 Sew Along: Scrappy Sampler.

While I have been quilting for some time, it is never too late to try something new. While working on this quiltalong, I have focused on pressing the seam allowance of my HST open after trimming them. I am surprised at the difference it makes. There is less slip due to bulk when I am assembling the blocks, and the blocks are flatter in the end. Who knew?

Not only will I have a fun quilt, but also a new-to-me technique ...

This started off as a little bundle of three floral print fat quarters. I found some friends for them and, using my favorite Heart Block Pattern, started sewing.

The 6″ size made best use of the fabric I had available. When trimmed to 2-1/2″ the HST cut-offs became the border.

The backing matches beautifully and came from stash, where it had been for a long time. Don’t you just love it when fabric finds its purpose?!

I have another heart quilt in mind and hope to start it in the next few weeks. I need to get the ...

I had seen something similar (without a pattern I could identify) on Pinterest . It turned out to be a good idea that didn’t work.

I am very pleased with the solid flying geese blocks. But, the background…If it had all been the flowers, or the other bright print. But, mixing the two with some leftover scraps…Not successful.

That said, I am going to try again with a single print. The idea deserves a second chance.

ps–I have been calling it the Ugly Geese Quilt, which isn’t fair, because the geese aren’t ugly at all.

Let’s Talk About UFOs (and the Quiet Guilt We Don’t Say Out Loud)

You walk into your sewing room with a plan.

Today, so today… you will finish something.

You open a drawer…
then another…
then a basket…

…and suddenly you’re staring at a stack of unfinished projects. The photo below shows my UFOs from long time ago. And yet, I still have some of them in my UFO pile. Today, we are going to unpack the guilt around UFO and learn how to make a gentle move around them. Read more below — and tell me, do ...